


Perfect Present for the Parent

by Starrik



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-14
Updated: 2016-10-14
Packaged: 2018-08-22 09:08:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,292
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8280440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starrik/pseuds/Starrik
Summary: There's a little surprise for Arthur Weasley's 70th birthday that he would never have seen coming.





	

More than anything else, this would be Harry’s greatest achievement. He’d saved the wizarding world almost once a year as a student, he’d become one of the greatest Aurors since Mad-Eye Moody. He’d faced death and returned its master. The greatest wizard of the age, Albus Dumbledore, had counted him a friend and a confidant. But this, this would trump it all.

The whole family had assembled for this one; their vast, sprawling number crowding the Burrow for just the one day. Harry could hear Ginny giggling nearby, like she was the shy little girl she’d been when he met her. Ron and Hermione were wrapped in each other’s’ arms, making sure that neither of their disinterested children ruined it for everyone else.

George had a smile on his face big enough for two. Percy was trying not to let his mild disapproval crack away into amusement, and failing; Bill and Charlie wore the shadows of laughter on their faces. Molly didn’t look like she really knew what was going on at all, but that her whole family was there and happy was reason enough for her to enjoy it.

And in the centre of it all, blindfolded, excited, completely unaware of what was about to happen to him was Arthur Weasley.

“Alright there, Mr Weasley?” Harry asked.

“Alright Harry. You could call me Arthur, you know.” Harry shook his head, despite knowing that he wouldn’t be able to tell.

“Wouldn’t feel right. We’re just about ready now. Follow me?”

Mr Weasley nodded his assent, and Harry lead him out of the Burrow’s gate and down to the infrequently used driveway. The two of them managed with minimal bumping into the magical and mundane items that littered the Weasley household even at the best of times. They moved slower than Harry expected, and he was stunned at the realisation that he was almost as old as Mr Weasley had been the first time the two of them met.

Harry put his hands on Arthur’s shoulders, and adjusted him slightly so that he was facing the gift perfectly.

“Here we go, Arthur,” Harry said cheerfully, trying not to sound too amused already. “Nah, it feels weird Mr Weasley. You can take off the blindfold now.”

The blindfold came off, and Mr Weasley was confronted with an ordinary looking automobile. He took a couple of steps towards it, and then walked all around it- something not made easy by the presence of his offspring, their spouses, and _their_ offspring. Christmas dinner was always a challenge these days.

“I’m not sure I understand, Harry. It seems like it’s a regular Muggle car? I mean, thank you, it’s lovely,” he hurriedly added as Molly frowned at his rudeness. Harry just laughed, and gestured that he should get in the driver’s seat.

Harry himself got into the passenger seat, and Ginny, Ron and George piled into the back, jostling for elbow space. The doors slammed closed, and they all waited for something to happen. There was no magical extension to the seats, nothing magical about the console. In fact, after a few moments, Arthur was forced to conclude that it wasn’t magical.

“What now?” he asked, baffled.

In response, Harry tapped a couple of times on a little monitor, and the car came to life, almost silently.

“Oh! You’ve got me one of those eklectric cars. Harry, this is too much!” he exclaimed happily, but there was a chorus of responses telling him that he hadn’t seen _anything_ yet.

And then, without him having done anything at all, the car began to roll forwards.

“Harry!” Arthur said in alarm, “You’ve forgotten to park it properly! I don’t really know how to drive one of these.” His alarm turned back to confusion when the three in the back started guffawing, and Harry put a placating hand on Mr Weasley’s arm.

“It’s alright; it’s supposed to do this. Look!” He gestured at the town of Ottery St. Catchpole that was already starting to unfold in front of him. Arthur was growing more intrigued by the second, he wasn’t sure he’d ever seen anything like this before. But he had heard stories…

“Harry, have you magically modified this car to drive itself like my old Angelina?” he asked, sternly. The boy- well, he could hardly be called a boy anymore, but that it still felt like he was one to Arthur- might be famous, but everyone had to follow the law. Especially when Arthur had drafted it in his own hand.

“Oh, come on Dad, you know it’s not magic. You checked, didn’t you? This is all Muggle! They figured out how to do it themselves,” Ron put in, saving his father some trouble. Ginny punched him in the arm for spoiling it, which hurt a lot more than it would have before she spent so long playing Quidditch. “Ow,” he grumbled to himself.

Arthur’s eyes were glinting with a curiosity that only the Muggle world could alight in him. “The Muggles did this all by themselves?” he asked Harry, who he still considered to be the foremost expert on what was really true about the non-magical world.

“Completely on their own. It’s got computers, and cameras and all sorts. Don’t worry, they think it’s as incredible as you do.”

A slew of questions about the technical layout of the car followed, with dozens of slightly mispronounced or misused Muggle jargon interspersed throughout, and Harry threw up his hands. “I really don’t know, Mr Weasley. I understand this about as well as I did your old Angelina. George knows a bit more, he’s promised to talk you through it later. But for now, here.”

Harry handed him a tablet that held the car’s controls. He was used to these, Ron had bought one for him five years ago at Hermione’s suggestion. Eventually, Molly had taken over its use when she discovered how easy it was to use, and a sudden rise in witches with tablets had occurred as she explained it to everyone she knew.

Arthur jabbed excitedly at the various options, and told the car to drive back to the house again, just so that it could prove it could do it without magic. Slowly, it turned itself around, and pottered back the way it had come.

“Mum wasn’t sure about it, but everyone else thought it was a great idea,” George said, still smiling. “We didn’t think you’d want to miss out on this. And it should work for ages, so you won’t have to worry about getting cars from the Ministry anymore.”

Little tears were beading in Arthur’s eyes, and he had to wipe them off on his shirtsleeves. Even if they didn’t understand his obsession with the Muggle world, his family always did their best to indulge him in it, and they’d more than outdone themselves this time.

When the car rolled back to the Burrow, Arthur Weasley left it with a wild mix of excitement, gratefulness and sheer curiosity that never seemed to leave him for a second. He walked back towards the house, one arm around George who was explaining what he knew of how it worked, and little Hugo who had inherited his grandfather’s obsession with his mother’s world along with his mother’s ability to actually understand it.

Harry and Ginny leant against the side of the car, watching Mr Weasley re-enter his seventieth birthday party, grinning and holding each other. Quietly, Ginny stood up on her tip-toes to whisper in Harry’s ear.

“It’s a good thing I love you so much, or else I’d be jealous that you’re his favourite son today.”

His cheeks didn’t stop burning until long after everyone had crowded around the dinner table for cake and good cheer.

 


End file.
